Home appliance with anti-trap protection

ABSTRACT

A home appliance includes a carcass, a door joined to the carcass with a hinge for closure of an interior compartment of the carcass, a superimposed decor panel spaced from the door by a gap, a first fitting part mounted in the gap on the decor panel, and a deformable cover piece extending from a side wall of the carcass adjacent to the hinge into the gap and having an extension which reaches through a passage between the first fitting part and the decor panel from a hinge-side edge of the decor panel and abuts a side of the first fitting part facing away from the hinge-side edge of the decor panel.

The present invention relates to the simplified assembly of an anti-trap protection on a home appliance, in particular a refrigeration appliance, with a carcass, to which a door for closure of an interior compartment of the carcass is linked, the door being provided with a superimposed decor panel distanced from it by means of a gap. Home appliances of this kind are in particular employed as built-in appliances, set back into a furniture recess, but also as large-format freestanding appliances, set up closely adjacent to furniture units or other home appliances. In most cases, the decor panel engages with the design elements of the adjacent furniture units or home appliances, in order to lend the entire arrangement an esthetically uniform appearance.

In the case of such an arrangement, importance is generally attached to the front faces of the furniture units and the home appliances forming a flush surface. In order to enable the door of such a home appliance to be opened without striking the adjacent furniture units or appliances, multijoint hinges are generally used, with which a movement of the door can be guided similar to rotation around an imaginary axis at a distance from the side of the carcass. A consequence of this guidance is that upon opening the door a gap is created between the hinged edge of the door and the front of an adjacent furniture unit or appliance, which can be several centimeters in width. A finger encroaching into this gap while the door is being closed is in danger of incurring serious injury.

In order to eliminate this danger of injury, the German laid-open patent application DE 10 2004 062 238 A1 proposes that for a built-in home appliance, a flexible plate element be mounted on the one hand in the area of its door and on the other hand in a transition area between the furniture carcass of the built-in home appliance and an adjacent second furniture carcass such that it covers the gap upon opening of the door over its entire length.

According to a first embodiment it is provided for the cover piece to be affixed to a side edge of the decor panel superimposed on the home appliance door. Here, however, a front edge of the cover piece remains visible even when the door is closed, which is regarded as esthetically unsatisfactory.

According to a second embodiment, an edge area of the flexible cover piece engages into a gap between the appliance door and the superimposed decor panel in a slidable manner.

However this renders mounting of the decor panel on the door more difficult, as the hinged edge cannot be used for the attachment of carrier components for the decor panel. Particularly in the case of freestanding appliances of great height, this can be a problem, as oscillation of the decor panel cannot be excluded.

An effective anti-trap protection which impairs neither the appearance of the home appliance nor the stability of the decor panel, is disclosed in the German laid-open patent application DE 10 2005 057 133 A1. The anti-trap protection is here formed by a flexible cover piece which extends outwards from a side wall of the carcass into a gap formed between the door of the home appliance and its superimposed decor panel, and is held there on the hinged edge of the home appliance door and the fitting parts connecting the decor panel.

In a first embodiment, a limb of the cover piece is inserted into a groove delimited on one side by the decor panel and on the other by a fitting part. The fitting part is provided with claws protruding into the groove, in order to prevent the limb from escaping from the groove. It has, however, proved difficult to mount the fitting part on the decor panel with sufficient precision that the groove is one the one hand wide enough to ensure that the limb of the cover part can be inserted as deep as necessary into the groove without exerting excessive force and without the danger of damage, but on the other hand is also narrow enough to retain the limb permanently in the desired position.

In a second embodiment it is accordingly proposed that the cover piece be clamped between clamping jaws of the fitting part extending parallel to the decor panel and a clamping part. The cover piece and the clamping mechanism must be embodied in such a way that the depth of insertion of the cover piece prior to clamping can be adjustably selected such that a film hinge connecting the two limbs of the cover piece comes to rest at a defined distance from the lateral edge of the decor panel. However with the decor panel mounted, this adjustment is hindered by the finger protection, as this in particular hampers the access to the clamping mechanism fixing the cover plate necessary for adjustment purposes.

The object of the invention is to create a home appliance of the kind specified above, in which the cover piece can be firmly, permanently and rapidly mounted on the door without the need to exert excessive force.

The object is achieved in that in the case of a home appliance with a carcass and door for closure of an interior compartment of the carcass joined to the carcass by means of a hinge, a superimposed decor panel distanced from the door by a gap, a deformable cover piece extending from a side wall of the carcass adjacent to the hinge into the gap and a first fitting part mounted in the gap on the decor panel, the cover piece has at least one extension, which reaches through from a hinge-side edge of the decor panel out of a passage between the first fitting part and the decor panel, and lies adjacent to a side of the first fitting part facing away from the hinge-side edge of the decor panel. The cover piece is thus held flush with the fitting part, and no further high degree of clamping force is required in order to fix the cover piece permanently in place.

A film hinge, which connects two limbs of the cover piece in a one-piece manner, preferably extends along the hinge-side edge of the decor panel.

The first fitting part preferably has at least one bridging section, which connects two seatings of the fitting part abutting the decor panel, and forms a wall of the passage through which the extension reaches.

To secure the cover piece, the bridging section can have a projection facing the decor panel, which is latched into a first cut-out of the extension.

The extension preferably has a second cut-out, which is arranged as a mirror image of the first cut-out. This enables assembly of the cover piece optionally on the right-hand or left-hand edge of the door, in opposite orientations, where in both cases the cover piece can be latched on to the projection of a bridging section.

In order to enable assembly optionally on the right-hand or left-hand edge of the door, it is further advantageous if the extension carries two projections set in opposition to each other, protruding in the longitudinal direction of the cover piece. Depending on the installation position of the cover piece, one or other of these projections points downwards, and tends, solely under the weight of the cover piece, to tuck in behind a contact surface of the first fitting part.

In order to stabilize the anchoring of the cover piece to the first fitting part, the extension can be provided with a stiffened zone, which encompasses at least the projection or the projections, and preferably extends from one of the projections to the other.

Such a stiffened zone can be realized by a stiffening element embedded in the material of the extension, for example by a steel wire coated with an elastic plastic material of the cover piece.

In order to create an adjustable connection between decor panel and door, the first fitting part can advantageously have a bridging section between the seatings touching the decor panel which connects the seatings and is at a distance from the decor panel, which delimits a retainer for a second limb of an angled second fitting part, of which a first limb is fixed to a side edge of the door.

A connecting tongue of the second fitting part is expediently latched into a slot of the first fitting part, in order to keep the two fitting parts connected to each other during the mounting of the decor panel on the door.

The slot can be created in a simple manner in that a bracket and two lateral strips flanking the bracket are punched out of the first fitting part, and the bracket is deflected out of the plane of the lateral strips.

The cover piece is preferably an extruded profile, which is cut on a long edge, to form the at least one extension.

Further features and advantages of the invention are evident from the following description of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the attached figures.

where:

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view through the housing of a built-in refrigeration appliance and surrounding furniture units with a closed door;

FIG. 2 shows a similar section to FIG. 1 with an open door;

FIG. 3 shows a three-dimensional sectional view of a bridging strip, a mounting bracket strip and a cover piece for connecting a door of the refrigeration appliance with the decor panel;

FIG. 4 shows a three-dimensional view of a spacer;

FIG. 5 shows the bridging strip and mounting bracket strip connected with each other with the aid of the spacer;

FIG. 6 shows a second view of the connected bridging strip and mounting bracket strip;

FIG. 7 shows a section of the cover piece; and

FIG. 8 shows an enlarged detail of the cover piece.

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic section through a front corner of the housing of a built-in refrigeration appliance, installed in a furniture unit recess. In the customary manner, the housing comprises a carcass 1 and a door 2, which enclose an interior compartment 3 and are realized as hollow bodies filled with insulation material. Distributed in a side edge 4 of the door 2 are tapped blind-holes 6, a section of one of which is shown. Screws 9 held in the tapped blind-holes 6 carry a mounting bracket strip 41. A limb of the mounting bracket strip 41 extending in front of the front face of the door 2 engages with a bridging strip 40 in a manner described in greater detail at a later stage, in order to carry a decor panel 7 superimposed on the door 2. An elongated angled cover piece 8 has a first limb 10, is held on the rear face of the decor panel 7, between this and the bridging strip 40, and a second limb 11, which extends along a side wall 12 of the furniture unit recess, and engages in a gap 13 between the side wall 12 and the carcass 1.

When the door of the refrigeration appliance is to be opened, the decor panel 7 must move out from the furniture unit recess, as shown in the sectional view in FIG. 2. The cover piece 8 is here pivoted at a film hinge 14 connecting the two limbs 10, 11, and the second limb 11 slides partially forward out of the gap 13, in order to block a gap arising between the hinge-side edge of the decor panel 7 and the side wall 12.

FIG. 3 shows a three-dimensional sectional view of the bridging strip 40, the mounting bracket strip 41 and the cover piece 8. The bridging strip 40 is a metal strip with deeper structuring by means of offset steps, which is provided in order to be screwed onto the rear face of the decor panel 7 adjacent to a lateral edge. Distanced from each other by the offset steps the bridging strip 40, seatings 25, 26 and bridging sections 23, 24 alternate in the longitudinal direction. In the assembled state, the seatings 25, 26 abut the decor panel 7; the bridging sections 23, 24 together with the decor panel in each case delimit gaps open to the side. A tab 27 is in each case punched in a lower area in the bridging sections 24, and bent outwards obliquely into the gap between the bridging section 24 and the decor panel 7.

While the seatings 25 are essentially level, a detent bracket 61 flanked by lateral strips 62 is in each case punched and bent outwards from the seatings 26.

On the bridging strip 40 at least two seatings 26 and bridging sections 23, 24 are present in each case.

The mounting bracket strip 41 is an angled profile with two limbs orthogonal to each other, of which, in the assembled state, the first extends parallel to the rear face of the decor panel 11 and the second lies against the side edge 4 of the door and is held in place by the screws 9. The first limb has a multiplicity of tongues 42, which are provided to engage in the gaps between the bridging section 23 and the decor panel 7, if the bridging strip 40 is attached to the decor panel 7, and detent tongues 71, which are provided to engage in the space 63 extending between the detent bracket 61 and the lateral strips 62 adjacent to it. The lateral strips 62 running between the detent tongues 71 and the decor panel 7 hold the mounting bracket strip 41 at a distance from the decor panel 7.

At their respective tips, the detent tongues 71 have a latch 72, which is provided, after insertion of the detent tongue 71 into the space 63, to engage behind the edge of the detent bracket 61 facing away from the edge of the decor panel 7, and thus to prevent the two fitting parts 40, 41 coming loose from each other once more. The length of the detent bracket 61 is significantly greater than the width of the detent tongue 71, so that when just the detent tongue 71 engages in the space 63, it is capable of being pushed in the longitudinal direction of the bridging strip 40, that is to say vertically, when the fitting parts 40, 41 are mounted.

Slots 44 shown on the second limb are provided in order to press on the screws 9 which are initially inserted loosely into the side edge 4 of the door 2, and thus to hold the decor panel 7 with the fitting parts 40, 41 on the door 2, initially in a slack manner, adjustably in the depth direction of the refrigeration appliance.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the first limb 10 of the cover piece 8 abutting the decor panel 7 has a projecting tongue 15 for each bridging section 24 of the bridging strip 40, from whose free end projections 16 project upwards and downwards. The distance between the tips of the projections 16 facing away from each other is slightly smaller than the length of the bridging section 24, so that the tongue 15 can be inserted from the side between the bridging section 24 and the decor panel 7. The mounting bracket strip 41 does not hinder insertion of the tongue 15, as a gap is left free between it and the decor panel 7 by the lateral strips 62.

After insertion of the tongue 15 between the bridging section 24 and the decor panel 7 the entire cover piece 8 is pushed downwards, so that the lower projection 16 of the tongue 15 engages onto the side 28 of the seating 25 adjacent at the bottom to the bridging section 24 which faces away from edge of the decor panel, as indicated in FIG. 3 by means of a dotted-line view of the projection 16. The length of the tongue 15 is dimensioned such that as a result of this manual action, the position of the limb 10 is fixed in the width direction of the decor panel 7, except for a minor amount of play, in the order of millimeters.

As a result of the downward displacement of the cover piece 8, the inwardly bent tab 27 of the bridging section 24 engages with a lower opening 17 of the tongue 15. Although initially an asymmetrical contour of the tab 27 enables the tongue 15 to be pushed past the tip of the tab 27 into the passage and subsequently to drop, it then prevents an upward movement of the tongue 15, so that the cover piece 8 is also locked in the vertical direction.

To attach the decor panel 7 to the door 2, two mirror-image bridging strips 40 and mounting bracket strips 41 are in each case provided, which are mounted on both side edges 4 of the door 2. As the cover piece 8 has on its tongues 15 in each case two projections 16 and two openings 17 in a symmetrical mirror-image arrangement, it can be pushed between the door 2 and the decor panel 7 both from the right and the left, and latched onto the respective adjacent bridging strip 40. The cover piece 8 can accordingly be used both on doors with right-hand hinging and left-hand hinging.

To ensure the effectiveness of the anti-trap protection to be realized with the cover piece 8, it is important that its film hinge 14 comes to rest precisely on the edge of the decor panel 7. A spacer 50, which is shown in three-dimensional form in FIG. 4, serves this purpose inter alia. The spacer 50 has a base plate with stop surface 51, which is provided to abut the lateral edge of the decor panel 7. A block 52 of the spacer 50 protruding above the stop surface 51 has a surface located below in the three-dimensional view of FIG. 3, which during assembly abuts the rear face of the decor panel 7. Protruding from the block 52, in each case divided by a space having the width of the detent tongues 71, are two pairs of gripper fingers, 53 a, 54 a or as the case may be 53 b, 54 b. In the assembled state, these gripper fingers extend through cut-outs 73 (see FIG. 2) formed in the mounting bracket strip 41 on both sides of the detent tongues 71, and engage into the space 63 above and below the detent tongue 71.

The gripper fingers 53 a, 53 b are cranked, in order to surmount the lateral strips 62 and facilitate insertion into the space 63.

The gripper fingers 54 a, 54 b which lie opposite the fingers 53 a, 53 b in each case have two latches 55 a, 56 a or as the case may be 55 b, 56 b, which in the assembled state of the spacer 50 grip the detent bracket 61 on both sides, free of play. Side edges of the latches 55 a, 56 a, 55 b, 56 b thus form stop surfaces 57, which determine the distance of the bridging strip 40 from an edge of the decor panel 7, when the stop surface 51 of the spacer 50 abuts this edge.

The fitting arrangement for assembly of the decor panel 7 comprises in each case two of the bridging strips 40 and mounting bracket strips 41 shown in FIG. 3, a cover piece 8 and a number of spacers 50 corresponding to the number of detent tongues 71 of the mounting bracket strips 41, specifically at least four.

A first assembly step involves the detent tongues 71 on the mounting bracket strip being pushed into the spaces 63 of the seatings 26 of the assigned bridging strip, so that the latches 72 latch on the far side of the detent bracket 61. In this state, the bridging strips 40 and the mounting bracket strips 41 are in each case slidable against each other in their longitudinal direction.

Next, the spacers 50 in each case with their gripper fingers 53, 54 are pushed forward through the cut-outs 73 on both sides of the detent tongues 71 and into the space 63 on both sides of one of the detent tongues 71. The fitting parts 40, 41 are thereby also fixed in their longitudinal direction relative to each other. FIGS. 5 and 6 show two three-dimensional views of the spacer 50 inserted into position.

The two modules, mirror images of each other and in each case comprising a bridging strip 40, a mounting bracket strip 41 and two spacers 50, are positioned on the rear face of the decor panel 7 along their side edges, in such a way that the stop surfaces 51 of the spacers 50 meet the edges of the decor panel 7. The bridging strips 40 are now screwed onto the decor panel 7, at the seatings 25, 26. Further, an adjustment rail, which is not shown here, known, for example, from DE 10 2005 021 607 A1, is screwed onto the rear face of the decor panel.

All parts of the module thus obtained, comprising decor panel 7, fitting parts 40, 41, adjustment rail and spacers 50, are fixed relative to each other. At this stage the complete module can be provisionally hung on the door 2, as already mentioned by pushing the slots 44 of the mounting bracket strips 41 onto the screws 9 inserted into the side edges 4 of the door. A protruding limb of the adjustment rail thereby comes to rest on screws engaging with an upper edge of the door.

The position of the decor panel 7 can now be directly adjusted in the depth direction and the screws then tightened in the side edges 4 of the door 2; it is also conceivable initially to tighten these screws provisionally, and to perform depth adjustment at a later point.

After the mounting bracket strips 41 are fixed to the side edges 4 by tightening the screws 9, the spacers 50 are removed. By means of the withdrawal of the spacers 50, the decor panel 7 is once again vertically adjustable. If necessary, a vertical fine adjustment can now be carried out with the aid of the screws supporting the adjustment strip.

As a result of the preceding removal of the spacer 50, the gap between the decor panel 7 and the mounting bracket strip 41 is now open over its entire length, and ready to accept the limb 10 of the cover piece 8. By means of the dimensioning of the spacer 50, in particular the distance between the stop surfaces 51 and 57, it is ensured that the limb 10 then precisely meets the bridging strip 40, when the film hinge 14 of the cover piece 8 lies at the level of the edge of the decor panel 7. Now by means of slight downward displacement of the cover piece 8, the upward-pointing projections 16 on its tongues 15 are interlocked with the side of the bridging strip 40 facing away from the edge of the decor panel 7, and the tabs 27 caused to latch into the lower openings 17 of the tongues 15. The cover piece 8 is thus not only clamped between the decor panel 7 and the door 2, but also engaged in position in an interlocking manner, and protected against slippage, so that permanent effectiveness of the anti-trap protection is guaranteed.

FIG. 7 shows a three-dimensional view of a cover piece 8 with a multiplicity of tongues 15. The cover piece 8 is an extruded profile made of plastic which as a thin layer, at the film hinge 14, is slightly pliable and as a thicker layer is stiff, in order to enable insertion of the tongues 15 between the decor panel 7 and the bridging sections 24 of the bridging strip, under certain circumstances even where resistance is encountered. The tongues 15 are obtained in that areas 18 are cut out of the limb 10 between them. Cutting-out of the areas 18 can take place in a single work process together with the cutting of the openings 17.

As a result of the cutting-out of the areas 18, a stiff steel wire 19 embedded in the extruded profile is divided into individual pieces, which in each case extend along the free ends of the tongues and through the projections 16. The steel wire sections reach directly as far as the tips of the projections 16, in order to ensure that these do not bend when being pushed between decor panel 7 and bridging sections 24, and can come securely to rest behind the seatings 25. 

1-12. (canceled)
 13. A home appliance comprising: a carcass; a door joined to the carcass with a hinge for closure of an interior compartment of the carcass; a superimposed decor panel spaced from the door by a gap; a first fitting part mounted in the gap on the decor panel; and a deformable cover piece extending from a side wall of the carcass adjacent to the hinge into the gap and having an extension which reaches through a passage between the first fitting part and the decor panel from a hinge-side edge of the decor panel and abuts a side of the first fitting part facing away from the hinge-side edge of the decor panel.
 14. The home appliance of claim 13, further comprising a film hinge that extends along the hinge-side edge of the decor panel and that connects two limbs of the cover piece in a one-piece manner.
 15. The home appliance of claim 13, wherein the first fitting part comprises a bridging section that connects two seatings abutting the decor panel and that forms a wall of the passage through which the extension reaches.
 16. The home appliance of claim 15, wherein the bridging section comprises a projection facing the decor panel, which is latched into a first cut-out of the extension.
 17. The home appliance of claim 16, wherein the extension comprises a second cut-out, which is arranged as a mirror-image of the first cut-out.
 18. The home appliance of claim 15, wherein the first fitting part comprises a bridging section between the two seatings touching the decor panel that connects the seatings at a distance from the decor panel and which delimits a retainer for a second limb of an angled second fitting part having a first limb that is attached to a side edge of the door.
 19. The home appliance as claimed in claim 18, wherein the second fitting part comprises a connecting tongue that is latched into a slot of the first fitting part.
 20. The home appliance of claim 19, wherein the first fitting part comprises a bracket and two lateral strips flanking the bracket which are punched out of the first fitting part and wherein the bracket is deflected out from a level of the two lateral strips to define the slot.
 21. The home appliance of claim 13, wherein the extension comprises two projections set opposite to each other and protruding in a longitudinal direction of the cover piece.
 22. The home appliance of claim 21, wherein the extension comprises a stiffened zone that extends from one of the projections to the other.
 23. The home appliance of claim 22, wherein the stiffened zone comprises a stiffening body.
 24. The home appliance of claim 13, wherein the cover piece comprises an extruded profile which is cropped on a longitudinal edge to form the extension. 